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NHL Picks

Olympic Hockey Picks: Canada vs. Austria

Canada
didn’t look too impressive in their opening contest of the 2014 Winter Olympics
against Norway as they eked out a 3-1 win. However, that was just their opener
and their first taste of action. Now that they’ve got their feet wet, they
should be able to pump an Austria team that was throttled in their first game.

Austria
is a horrible defensive team. They lost 8-4 to Finland in their opening game
and if Finland – a defensive-minded team – can rack up eight goals, Canada is
going to have a field day.

The
Austrians were completely abused in the opener as they gave up a whopping 52
shots on net and only mustered 20 themselves. They didn’t control the puck very
much as Finland skated circles around them.

Canada
is more talented than Finland – particularly at the offensive end. Guys like
Sidney Crosby and John Tavares should find themselves with plenty of room to
make plays and set up their teammates. Austria just isn’t built to compete in
games like this, which means we should expect to see a one-sided affair here.

Austria Can Win
Because….

They’ll
tighten things up on their back end. Sure, they gave up eight goals in the
opener but they also allowed 52 shots. There’s a good chance that they can be
somewhat competitive if they don’t give up that many again. Their goalies
didn’t play well but they need to help them out.

On
the flip side, Canada barely got by Norway. Austria is a bit better than
Norway, so that should give them a bit of confidence heading into this one.

Canada had a conservative
effort in their first game but this is where they open things up. They could
have done more against Norway but they spent the game getting acclimated to the
international settings in Sochi. Now that they’ve found their bearings, they’ll
charge forward a bit harder in this game and skate away
with an easy win.